Minotaur wizard with a gun

[Spuddles]

This is intended for playing in a campaign this Friday. The idea is a big hairy caster that shoots things.

First, the constraints:
10 levels, up to 2 LA free
Get to refluff a +1 reloading thundering great crossbow as a blunderbuss, otherwise identical to a crossbow
No spell casting higher than 4th level spells
Access to all 3.5 material. No PF, please, and no homebrew.
Has to get along with an evil party.

Current build:
Kingdoms of Kalamar obscure elf race that has -2 str -2 con +2 wis +2dex
Half-Minotaur

level 1:
Hit-and Run Fighter (DotU) + Targeteer (Dr something) for 2x dex to damage and proficiency with a great crossbow.

Level 2-10
Mystic Ranger with Shooting Star sub levels and Sword of the Arcane Order


Enemies are mostly going to be outsiders that are evil (Devils, salamanders), so thinking favored enemies outsider:evil and outsider:fire, if there isn't something better to trade that out for.


Is picking up zen archery worth it? In ideal conditions, I can get up to dex x3.5 to damage (ACFs, feats), which sounds very nice. But wisdom also governs my casting, and I am ostensibly a caster.

Intelligence is going to be rather low, so wizard spells without a save will be best. What are good casty wizard spells for a ranged gish?

Thanks, and sorry this is kind of all over the place.

[Endarire]

Snuggle up with Treantmonk (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=394). Transmutation and Abjuration spells seem most fitting. Zen Archery also seems spiffy considering your WIS focus.

[Slipperychicken]

See if you can swing Pathfinder's firearms rules. They're very easily converted into 3.5, and much better at representing it then a refluffed crossbow.

[Spuddles]

See if you can swing Pathfinder's firearms rules. They're very easily converted into 3.5, and much better at representing it then a refluffed crossbow.

Wow, it only took two posts for someone to mention PF.
I'm not interested in PF gun rules because they won't work with Arrowsplit or Black Flame Arrow or any of the other sweet spells that explicitly work on arrows & bolts, and I'm not interested in convincing my DM to import a system he's unfamiliar with.

[Cranthis]

What you need to due, is make or buy an adamantite tube with a slot in it, and a **** ton of little discs. On the discs, you put explosive runes. Put the disc in the slot, put anything in the tube. Fire.

[Deth Muncher]

Wow, way to mostly ignore everything the OP says, guys. (Except you, En.)

But honestly, the best advice I can give you is to go look at the Brilliant Gameologist boards - or, actually, their new boards, at minmaxboards.com, and hunt down an Archery Handbook. The Treantmonk guide will help a little, but if you're just going for big hairy thing, then eh.

Now, I WILL say that 3.5 has rules for a blunderbuss. If it's not in the DMG, it's in...Dragon Magazine 317, I want to say. But regardless, you like your flavor, you keep your flavor.

Spell choice, as a side note, if you're just trying to hit for straght-up stuff that isn't caster-level dependent, go for buffs (any of the animal stat bonus ones, perhaps ones that make you shoot better), and actually, I might recommend you pick up Shield, since it'll net you some free AC that may help you out. I don't know what level spells you can cast (I'm not familiar with all the variant bits you're taking), but if you can pick up Blink (or whatever the lower level 20% miss chance spell is) that's also lovely. Also, just, Magic Missile, for when you're out of ammo but still need to kill a guy.:smallbiggrin: